FORGOTTEN MOVIES #1: THE GIFT

Philip Seymour Hoffman, George Clooney, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Johnny Depp. I will watch almost any movie these actors are in. When I first saw Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth I was stunned by her performance. But when I watched Cate Blanchett in The Gift, I added Cate to that list above. The Gift was a small film that moved beneath most people’s radar even though it was directed by Sam Raimi and starred Cate (of course), Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, Katie Holmes, Hilary Swank, and Greg Kinnear. Cate Blanchett plays a poor Southern woman, Annabelle “Annie” Wilson, who has powers, real Powers. She’s asked to use her extrasensory perception to find a missing woman. The ending is weak, but no matter. What matters is Cate Blanchett’s utterly convincing portrayal of a poor Southern woman with “The Gift.” If you haven’t seen this gem of a movie, you can buy it at Sam’s Club now for $4.86.

6 thoughts on “FORGOTTEN MOVIES #1: THE GIFT

    1. george Post author

      THE GIFT opened at our local Regal Theater and closed a week later, Patti. I never saw an ad for it on TV so maybe it was a just a marketing failure. I hope more people seek it out. THE GIFT is terrific!

      Reply
  1. Todd Mason

    THE GIFT, as you note has excellent performances…along with RIVER’S EDGE, it’s my usual response to “Keanu Reeves ruins everything!”…but the script is weak all the way through, sadly. I saw it in a theater as well…it’s too serious for the slaphappy horror crowd (including those thinking that it’d be another EVIL DEAD romp), not well-written enough for the arthouse crowd (or, at least, not bad in the right way for the less discriminating folks in that class), and thus just leaves the audience willing to take on a well-acted, underwritten horror film…the recent DRAG ME TO HELL has some of the same problems, while striving for the slaphappy.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      You’re right about the weak script, Todd. But I give the excellent cast credit for making the most of what they had to work with.

      Reply

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